The concept of "Shanghai Maths" is EVERYWHERE, and is being touted as the "right" way to teach mathematics.

So, I've decided to have a look for myself. What is "Shanghai Maths"? Why are people so keen on it? Why are others not keen at all? Can I transfer the "Shanghai Maths" methods to my FE classroom? Should I bother?

Today I start a 13 week "Action Research" project to make up my own mind, and to answer the question "What is all the fuss about?"

The mean score for all countries in the Mathematics strand was 494. Shanghai scored highest at 613, and the lowest was Peru at 368. The United Kingdom was bang on "average" at 494. On a side note, the Science mean was 501, and the Reading mean was 496. The UK's scores in these strands was 519 and 499 respectively.